Set Aung () who is also known as Winston Set Aung is former Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Planning, Finance and Industry. He also had multiple roles as Chairperson of

Thilawa Special Economic Zone Thilawa Special Economic Zone (; abbreviated Thilawa SEZ) is a special economic zone being developed in Kyauktan and Thanlyin Townships, south of Yangon city. The first phase of the SEZ became operational at the end of September 2015. History ...

's Management Committee of

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

, member of National Economic Coordination Committee (NECC) and Secretary of the Development Assistance Coordination Unit (DACU) that were chaired by the State Counsellor Aung San Su Kyi, until the Myanmar military launched the coup on 1 February 2021. Additionally, he was also Secretary of Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Steering Committee chaired by the Vice President of Myanmar, Chairperson of the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone, Chairperson of the Myanmar National Airlines and member of the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC). When the coup d'état occurred in February 2021, the military junta unjustly prosecuted Winston Set Aung alongside State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, Union Minister Soe Win, and Economic Advisor Dr. Sean Turnell. In Dr. Turnell's case, an Australian professor, the junta accused him of violating the Official Secrets Act by allegedly manipulating and planting official documents on his laptop. Since Turnell was officially appointed by the Ministry of Planning, Finance, and Industry, the junta also prosecuted Soe Win and Winston Set Aung, who held positions as Minister and Deputy Minister in that ministry, accusing them of being responsible for Turnell's actions. Additionally, the junta charged State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi with the same offense, claiming that she should also be held accountable for the actions of her minister and deputy minister. As a result, the junta orchestrated sham and farcical legal proceedings, sentencing all of them to three years in prison. Alongside them, the junta unfairly prosecuted and imprisoned numerous other Cabinet members of the democratically elected civilian government, politicians, and student activists under various charges. Dr. Turnell was released and deported in late 2022. Winston Set Aung was released in 2023 after completing his prison term. However, the former de facto Head of State, Aung San Suu Kyi, remains in prison facing many other spurious legal charges. Before he held the aforementioned positions, he served as Deputy Governor of the

Central Bank of Myanmar The Central Bank of Myanmar (; ; abbreviated CBM) is the central bank of Myanmar (formerly Burma). Organisation Its headquarter is located in Nay Pyi Taw, and has branches in Yangon and Mandalay. History The Central Bank of Myanmar was ...

until July 2017, Deputy Minister for National Planning and Economic Development from June 2012 to July 2013 and Economics Advisor to

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Thein Sein Thein Sein (; IPA: ; born 20 April 1944) is a Burmese politician and retired military general who served as the 9th President of Myanmar from 2011 to 2016. He previously served as prime minister from 2007 to 2010, and was considered by many ...

from April 2011 to June 2012. He previously served as Director of

Myanmar Development Resource Institute The Myanmar Development Resource Institute (, abbreviated MDRI) is an independent think tank and economic and social policy research organisation based in Yangon, Myanmar. MDRI consists of three specialised centres, namely the Centre for Economic ...

from September 2011 to May 2012 and Secretary of

National Economic and Social Advisory Council National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

of Myanmar from January 2011 to April 2012. Before his involvement in the public sector working for the government of Myanmar, he was involved in the private sector as a Founder and Director of Asia Development Research Co., Ltd., and Asia Language and Business Academy Co., Ltd. He also worked for several multinational organizations in the financial, oil and gas sectors including Lazard, Deutsche, Peregrine, and Shell.

Early life and education

Set Aung earned a BSc degree in

Industrial Chemistry The chemical industry comprises the company, companies and other organizations that develop and produce industrial, specialty and other chemicals. Central to the modern world economy, the chemical industry converts raw materials (Petroleum, oil, ...

from

University of Yangon The University of Yangon (also Yangon University; , ; formerly Rangoon College, University of Rangoon and Rangoon Arts and Sciences University), located in Kamayut, Yangon, is the oldest university in Myanmar's modern education system and the b ...

in 1995, an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

in General Business Administration and Management from

Yangon Institute of Economics The Yangon University of Economics (formerly the Institute of Economics, Yangon; ) is the finest university of economics and business in Myanmar. Founded as the Section of Economics of Yangon University in 1924, the section became an independe ...

in 1997, MSc in Banking and Finance from Stirling Management School,

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals; ) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by a royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built within the walled Airth ...

, UK in 1998, and an MSc in

Investment Management Investment management (sometimes referred to more generally as financial asset management) is the professional asset management of various Security (finance), securities, including shareholdings, Bond (finance), bonds, and other assets, such as r ...

from City University Business School (the name of which was changed later to

Bayes Business School Bayes Business School, formerly known as Cass Business School, is the business school of City St George's, University of London, located in St Luke's, London, St Luke's, just to the north of the City of London. It was established in 1966. Bayes ...

City University London City, University of London was a public university from 1966 to 2024 in London, England. It merged with St George's, University of London to form City St George's, University of London in August 2024. The names "City, University of London" and ...

in 2001. He also holds a PhD degree in Media and Governance from the

Keio University , abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university located in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally established as a school for Rangaku, Western studies in 1858 in Edo. It was granted university status in 1920, becomi ...

, Japan. He has been involved in international and regional research projects related to economics, social and

policy development Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an organ ...

in various countries, and has completed over 40 international and regional economic and social research projects in more than 10 countries.

Publications

Set Aung has authored

research papers Research paper may refer to: * Academic paper (also called ''scholarly paper''), which is in academic journals and contains original research results or reviews existing results or shows a totally new invention * Capstone project or synthesis pr ...

in cooperation with international and regional academic and

policy institute A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-gov ...

s, including the

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

, Japan, the Institute for Security and Development Policy in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden,

Chulalongkorn University Chulalongkorn University (CU; ; , ) is a public university, public Autonomous university, autonomous research university in Bangkok, Thailand. The university was originally founded during King Chulalongkorn's reign as a school for training ro ...

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

, Thailand,

Mekong Institute Mekong Institute (MI) is an intergovernmental organization (IGO) run by six governments in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS): Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Yunnan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China. MI ...

Khon Kaen Khon Kaen (, ) is the capital of Khon Kaen province and the List of municipalities in Thailand#Largest cities by urban population, fourth-largest city in Thailand. It is one of the four major cities of Isan, Northeast Thailand, also known as the ...

, Thailand, Stockholm Environmental Institute (SEI-Asia), and the Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast Asia of France,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Personal life

Set Aung's father, Set Maung, was formerly a

deputy minister Deputy minister is a title borne by politicians or officials in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. A deputy minister is positioned in some way "under" a minister, who is a full member of Cabinet, in charge of a particular sta ...

during the

Burma Socialist Programme Party The Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) was the ruling party of Burma (now Myanmar) from 1962 to 1988 and the country's sole legal party from 1964 to 1988. Party chairman Ne Win overthrew the country's democratically elected government i ...

era.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Set Aung Living people Burmese economists Government ministers of Myanmar Alumni of Bayes Business School University of Yangon alumni Year of birth missing (living people)